There was a troop of Irish dragoons
Cam' marching doon through Fyvie-O;
The Captain's faun in love wi' a bonnie, bonnie lass,
Her name it is called Pretty Peggy O.

"O come doon the stairs, pretty Peggy, my dear,
O come doon the stairs, pretty Peggy, O,
O come doon the stairs, comb aside your yellow hair
Tak' the last farewell o' your daddie O."

"It's I'll gie ye ribbons, love, I'll gie ye rings,
And I'll gie ye necklaces o' lammer O,
And I'll gie ye silken gowns, flounced to your knees
If ye would come doon to my chamber O"

"A soldier's wife I shall never be,
A soldier never shall enjoy me O,
For I never do intend to go to a foreign land,
So I never will marry a soldier O"

"A soldier's wife ye shall never be
For I'll make you the captain's lady O,
I'll make the regiment stand with their hats in their hands
When they come into the presence o' Peggy O.

"It's braw being a captain's lady, my dear,
It's braw to be a captain's lady O,
To lie into your bed till your breakfast it is made,
And dress till dinner be ready O"

The Colonel cries, "Mount, mount, boys, mount,"
Cries, "Mount, boys, mount and get ready O,"
"O tarry for a while, for another day or twa,
Till we see if this bonnie lass will marry O."

"There's mony a bonny lass in the toon of Auchterlass
And mony a bonnie lass in the Garioch O,
There's mony a bonnie Jean into bonnie Aberdeen,
But the flooer o' them a' is in Fyvie O."

Not lang on their way to Old Meldrum toon
Their captain grew sick and weary O,
Not lang on their way to bonny Aberdeen
They got their captain to bury O.

It was not the girl's beauty that I did admire,
But she was my only fancy O;
His name was Captain Ned, he died for a maid,
He died for the bonnie lass o' Fyvie O.




abc | midi | pdf

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Source: Milner D and Kaplan P, 1983, Songs of England, Ireland and Scotland, Oak, New York

Notes:
Milner wrote:

A favorite of the 1960s folk boom. The Clancys, Ewan MacColl, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan all recorded a version.

Source: Text adapted from Grieg's Folk Songs of the North East; tune is common.

The list of people in the 60s who recorded this is certainly extensive: Milner left Simon and Garfunkel off the list, for example, but maybe he didn't consider them folk singers! It was also a favourite of my daughter when she was about seven (1993).

Roud: 545 (Search Roud index at VWML)
Laws:
Child: